Media review: Western warning against use of the term “Gaza genocide” despite the continued killing and displacement of people

Media review: Western warning against use of the term “Gaza genocide” despite the continued killing and displacement of people

    Tuesday, December 26, 2023   No comments

The New York Times: There is no food or water... Two million displaced people are living in a difficult crisis in southern Gaza

The American newspaper "The New York Times" revealed that the residents of the Gaza Strip are suffering from a lack of food or water, as well as from a lack of sanitation, with the Israeli aggression and siege continuing for the 81st day, noting that the humanitarian crisis has worsened since the end of the temporary truce, and because the occupation forced the population to evacuate some Regions.

The newspaper explained that more than 1.7 million displaced people were registered in shelters in the southern regions, including several hundred thousand people who cannot be accommodated within their walls, and who sleep along roads and in open spaces.

According to analysis of satellite images, damage caused by Israeli air strikes was identified in the vicinity of almost every shelter in the southern areas of Gaza, and in some cases the shelters were directly bombed, doubling the suffering of the displaced.

The newspaper confirmed that the Israeli bombing, especially which “was relentless during the first 6 weeks of the war,” also affected the areas “to which the occupation asked the residents of Gaza to move.”

She indicated that Rafah is the area most crowded with displaced people in the Strip, as data indicates that the United Nations shelters in Rafah host, on average, more than 15,000 registered people each, although most shelters are designed to accommodate only 2,000 people.

On the other hand, officials of relief organizations said that the region is not equipped to provide basic services to the displaced, noting that its 3 hospitals are only partially functioning, and people in shelters and camps live in difficult conditions with little food or water, and approximately 500 people share a toilet. One.

According to the World Food Programme, 93% of Gaza's population currently suffers from "severe food insecurity," and the UN Security Council issued a resolution calling for "large-scale" humanitarian aid to be delivered to the Gaza Strip.

Iran Summons Russian Envoy Over Statement on Disputed Gulf Islands

Iran Summons Russian Envoy Over Statement on Disputed Gulf Islands

    Sunday, December 24, 2023   No comments

Those familair with Iranian culture would say that Iran's leaders do not do "ta`aruf" when it comes to their sovereignty. That is, “no kidding allowed” on the matter. In a move similar to its reaction to China putting its name on an Arab-Chinese joint statement when the Chinese president visit the Gulf region, Iran foreign ministry summoned the Russian diplomat to protest a similar event that took place in Morocco earlier this month. 

Iran has summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires to Tehran in protest at a recent statement issued by Russia and several Arab countries on Iran’s three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb.

The Russian diplomat was summoned by the assistant to the Iranian Foreign Ministry's director general for the Persian Gulf affairs on Saturday.

The development came after the final statement of the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum, which was held in Morocco on December 20, reiterated the United Arab Emirates' baseless claims about the three Iranian islands.

Iran has summoned Russia's envoy to protest a recent statement by Moscow and Arab countries calling for talks over three islands controlled by Tehran but claimed by the United Arab Emirates.

The summoning of Moscow's charge d'affaires came days after Iran's key ally Russia signed a joint declaration with Arab countries which "supported peaceful solutions and initiatives" to resolve the dispute over the islands.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Saturday it summoned Moscow's charge d'affaires in Tehran, in the absence of its ambassador, to submit a "note of protest" on the contents of the joint statement.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers any claim from any side in this regard as rejected and unacceptable," Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Iran's top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also called the islands "an integral part of Iran's territorial integrity" in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Friday.

"Tehran will not compromise with any side on the issue of respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty," he added.

Iran in July summoned the Russian ambassador to protest a similar joint statement signed by Moscow and Arab countries on the islands.

Located in the Gulf, the three strategic islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa are located near the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of world oil output passes.

  

Spain refuses to participate in the “Guardian of Prosperity” coalition in the Red Sea

Spain refuses to participate in the “Guardian of Prosperity” coalition in the Red Sea

    Sunday, December 24, 2023   No comments

Spain announced that it will not participate in the international coalition to protect shipping traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthi group in Yemen, but it will not oppose participation with other European countries within the framework of a specific mission.

After several days of delay, the Spanish leftist government made clear, in a Defense Ministry statement published on Saturday evening, that it opposes expanding the mission of the European “Atalanta” operation, which has been combating piracy in the Indian Ocean since 2008.

The ministry noted that the recent resumption of piracy in the region "requires maximum investment" in this mission. She also stressed that "the nature and objectives of the Atlanta mission have nothing to do with what we aim to achieve in the Red Sea."

From this standpoint, the government of socialist Pedro Sanchez considered it “indispensable to establish a new, specific, dedicated mission” to protect commercial maritime traffic in the Red Sea.

The Ministry stressed that this special mission must have “its own scope of work, means and objectives determined by the competent bodies of the European Union,” adding that “Spain is in no way opposed to the establishment of this mission.”

In response to a question from Agence France-Presse on Sunday, the ministry spokesman explained that Spain will not participate in the current process. The ministry did not explain the reasons for this rejection, which was announced shortly after a phone call on Friday between US President Joe Biden and Sanchez.

The White House confirmed in a statement that the conversation focused specifically on "condemning the current attacks launched by the Houthis against commercial ships in the Red Sea," a topic that the Spanish government did not mention when it touched on this phone call.

Washington's maritime coalition will not affect Yemen operations

The official spokesman for Ansar Allah, Muhammad Abdel Salam, said that the Washington naval coalition that was announced yesterday will not affect the Yemeni operations, pointing, in this context, to the presence of American, French and British frigates and military bases on the other side of the Red Sea, which It could not prevent Yemen's operations supporting Gaza.

He stressed that "Washington's naval alliance in the Red Sea is to protect Israel, not to protect international waterways," noting that "it cannot be called an alliance. Rather, it is, in fact, a weak grouping, and dead before it was born."

Abdel Salam reiterated his assertion that “the international corridors bordering Yemen are safe, and there are no security or military problems.” Adding that what is being targeted are ships heading to Israel, or Israeli ships.”

 Abdel Salam pointed out that “this alliance does not include any country overlooking the Red Sea, and it comes, unfortunately, in accordance with an American desire to protect “Israel” and to give it the opportunity to continue committing massacres against the Palestinian people.”

 

He added: "If they were keen on peace and stability, they would not have opposed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. This alliance cannot be acceptable or palatable, because its goal is the continuation of the Israeli aggression against Palestine."

Yemen said the blockade is a human action to stop the killing and starving of Palestinians; “the blockade imposed by Yemen will stop when the genocide in Gaza at the hands of Israeli Zionist occupation forces stops.”

Total bias

An opinion poll conducted by the NGO, Almustaqilla, on a sample of Arab people, the results of which were published at the end of last November, showed that only 7% of those polled believed that the United States’ role in the Israeli aggression was positive.

 20 years ago, the American invasion of Iraq damaged the reputation of the United States in the world.

 Munqith Dagher, an official at the Almustaqlila, comments that until recently, America “still represents this image of a country that embodies democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, and many values that befit the famous American dream.”

But the torrent of horrific scenes from Gaza, the massacres carried out by the occupation and the policy of collective punishment, “turned the situation upside down,” he added.

Dagher believes that this matter demonstrated to the Arabs "the United States' complete bias toward the Israelis and its lack ofrespect for human rights when it comes to the Palestinians."

Netanyahu: We will not stop the war nor will we withdraw our forces from Gaza, Oslo Accords were a grave mistake that must not be repeated

Netanyahu: We will not stop the war nor will we withdraw our forces from Gaza, Oslo Accords were a grave mistake that must not be repeated

    Sunday, December 17, 2023   No comments

Netanyahu restates Israel's rejection of the two state solution and sets course for a long war.

We will not stop the war, nor will we withdraw our forces from Gaza, as Hamas demands, before achieving our goals and returning the detainees.

We eliminated many of the terrorists and their leaders in Gaza and weakened their fighting capabilities. 

Netanyahu: "It is important to tell the truth - after the destruction of Hamas, the Gaza Strip will be under the control of civilian Israeli security forces, and there will be no elements there to threaten us."

We seek to achieve deterrence against Hezbollah in the north, either through a political process or other means.

We will not discuss the details of the negotiations, but we support our position in confronting the enemy with more blood and fire.

The Oslo Accords were a grave mistake that must not be repeated

I informed President Biden that the Palestinians cannot be granted full sovereignty that threatens the lives of Israelis

We cannot abandon the security checks for aid trucks entering Gaza

We have strong criticism of Qatar, but we are now trying to complete the hostage recovery process.

Netanyahu on Northern Border Status: "It is clear that when we finish eliminating Hamas, we cannot leave the northern borders as they are. We cannot end the war like this. We told the Americans: This case must be solved politically or militarily, or we will solve it."

If I must die

If I must die

    Thursday, December 14, 2023   No comments

إذا كان لا بد أن أموت

رفعت العرعير

 

إذا كان لا بد أن أموت

فلا بد أن تعيش أنت

لتروي حكايتي

لتبيع أشيائي

وتشتري قطعة قماش

وخيوطا

فلتكن بيضاء بذيل طويل

كي يبصر طفل في مكان ما من غزة

وهو يحدق في السماء

منتظرا أباه الذي رحل فجأة

دون أن يودع أحدا

ولا حتى لحمه

أو ذاته

يبصر الطائرة الورقية

طائرتي الورقية التي صنعتها أنت

تحلق في الأعالي

ويظن للحظة أن هناك ملاكا

يعيد الحب

إذا كان لا بد أن أموت

فليأتي موتي بالأمل

فليصبح حكاية

If I must die

Refaat Alareer

____________
If I must die

You must live

To tell my story

To sell my stuff

And buy a piece of cloth

And threads

Let it be white with a long tail

For a child somewhere in Gaza to see

He stares at the sky

Waiting for his father who suddenly passed away

Without saying goodbye to anyone

Not even his flesh

Or itself

He sees the kite

My kite that you made

Flying high

He thinks for a moment that there is an angel

Brings back love

If I must die

May my death bring hope

Let it become a story

Refaat Alareer was killed alongside children and other family members by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City on Wednesday December 6, 2023.

By a margin of 80% (for) to 5% (against), the United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip

By a margin of 80% (for) to 5% (against), the United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip

    Wednesday, December 13, 2023   No comments

The United Nations General Assembly adopted an immediate ceasefire resolution in the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to Israeli aggression for more than 65 days.

The draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which was voted on in the Assembly, received 153 votes, while 10 countries opposed it, and 23 countries abstained from voting.

Following the vote, the Palestinian presidency welcomed the United Nations’ call for a ceasefire, urging the countries that voted in favor of the resolution to “compel the Israeli occupation to implement it.” The representative of occupied Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said that the UN resolution on Gaza is “historic.”

Mansour announced that the General Assembly would vote on the draft resolution that was dropped by the United States of America in the UN Security Council, last Friday.

In an interview with reporters in New York, Mansour indicated that countries that oppose the draft resolution are proposing amendments to it, including “condemning the Hamas movement and labeling it a terrorist,” stressing that “the Arab and Islamic group will reject these amendments together.”

The representative of the United States of America, which vetoed a UNSC resolution calling for an end to the violence last week, Linda Greenfield, indicated that the humanitarian situation in the Strip is “dire, as civilians need everything, and must be protected under international law.”

Greenfield expressed her country's readiness to "resume humanitarian truces," and issued a "promise" to "bring more aid into Gaza," welcoming the occupation's decision to "open the Kerem Shalom crossing," and noting that "Israel must avoid mass killing of civilians,"

But at the same time, Greenfield  affirmed “continuing American support for Israel’s security,” considering that “Hamas remaining a neighbor of Israel is unacceptable,” in a position consistent with the positions of the occupation in its war against the Gaza Strip.

Washington Post: Biden shows deep sympathy for Israel and lacks it with the civilians killed or injured in Gaza

Washington Post: Biden shows deep sympathy for Israel and lacks it with the civilians killed or injured in Gaza

    Tuesday, December 12, 2023   No comments

The Washington Post published a report on the deep sympathy that US President Joe Biden has for Israel and his lack of this sympathy for the Palestinians. The newspaper reported the angry reactions of Arab Americans, Muslims, and others to his statements regarding the war in Gaza.

The report - written by John Hudson and Yasmine Abu Talib - finds that although the White House says that Biden often calls for the protection of Palestinian civilians, critics see a flaw in his tone, and that Arab and Muslim Americans who voted for him in 2020 confirmed that they feel betrayed and will not vote for him Next year.

The report cited Biden's speeches on various occasions about "atrocities" committed by Hamas against the Israelis during its attack on October 7, especially those in which he provided details that raised fear.

The report said that Biden repeatedly expressed sympathy and sadness for the suffering of Israelis, and the concerns of Jews around the world after the Hamas attack, and won deep appreciation among Israel's supporters, but many Arab and Muslim Americans as well as young voters and anti-war liberals say that the same sympathy were missing from Biden's speech about the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza even as the death toll there rose to more than 17,000, including thousands of children.

The report quoted Shibli Telhami, a researcher in the Middle East at the University of Maryland, as saying that Biden, in addition to his clear description of the horrific attack launched by Hamas on Israel and the Israeli victims, rarely spoke about the Palestinian children who were torn to pieces or about the hundreds of thousands of people without water or food, adding that “ He talks about the Palestinians as if they were victims of an earthquake or a natural disaster, without linking what happened to them to the actions of the Israeli government and its support.”

The Washington Post reported that White House officials defend Biden and say that he repeatedly called on Israel to avoid civilian casualties, and called for increased aid to Gaza to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinians.

But many American Muslim and Arab leaders feel that Biden's emotional expression and compassion are starkly different when he talks about Israelis and Palestinians, especially with the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. About 80% of Gaza's population has been displaced, and a growing number of them lack basic necessities, and some have criticized Special: Biden's famous denial of casualty figures from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The report indicated that for some Arab and Muslim Americans, Biden's realistic tone seems particularly frustrating from a figure known for his ability to relate to suffering, as he lost his wife and infant daughter in a car accident in 1972, and his son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015, which enabled him to... It is often better to talk about grief with genuine empathy.

But when he talks about suffering and death in Gaza, Biden refrains from directly criticizing Israel, creating a growing discord with some of his staff. Many senior officials in his administration have become more willing to point to Israeli responsibility and speak evocatively about Palestinian grief since it resumed its military campaign in Gaza by striking the south with the same ferocity with which the north was struck earlier.

The report referred to the statement of US Vice President Kamala Harris during her recent visit to the Middle East, where she said, "Many innocent Palestinians were killed. Frankly, the extent of civilian suffering and the images and videos coming from Gaza are horrific."

The report also referred to statements by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in which they showed clear sympathy with the Palestinians.

The report stated that many Arab and Muslim American voters said that their current hurt and anger stems in part from the fact that they supported Biden in 2020 in the belief that they were electing someone committed to human rights who could empathize with the deep sadness they feel now.

Imran Salha, the imam of the Islamic Center in Detroit, said that many Muslims and Arabs - including Arab Christians and Palestinians - feel betrayed.

Salha recounted that a Muslim activist - who was very active in the presidential nomination in 2020 - wrote Biden's name on his birthday cake while campaigning for him.

Media review: Libération, accounts of the beheading of children, rape and burning by Hamas fighters are false and aimed at garnering support for revenge against Gaza

Media review: Libération, accounts of the beheading of children, rape and burning by Hamas fighters are false and aimed at garnering support for revenge against Gaza

    Tuesday, December 12, 2023   No comments

The French newspaper “Libération” published a lengthy investigation into the stories circulated by the Israeli authorities about cutting off the heads of children, raping women, and tearing open the stomachs of pregnant women. The newspaper’s fact-finding team concluded that most of these stories were false and were aimed at inciting international public opinion and gathering support for a revenge operation against Gaza. Here are some excerpts, translated from the French  report:

 

On October 7, Hamas, and later other Palestinian factions, killed more than 1,200 people, including about 800 civilians, including the elderly, families, women, and children. The newspaper's investigative team returned in detail, on numerous occasions, to these documented and often photographed acts, which Hamas continues to deny, despite countless evidence.

...

However, over the past two months, the investigation team has also noted numerous unconfirmed or inconsistent stories and testimonies. Today, the final results of the attack are almost known. And also for the many civilians who were killed, and the circumstances of their deaths. However, available data confirms that some of the atrocities initially described did not happen, and these false testimonies relate almost exclusively to allegations of child abuse, which were at the heart of the media war that began two months ago and have been relayed for weeks by volunteer rescuers, soldiers or Israeli army officials, but also by the head of state and Israeli diplomacy. It was rich material for the international press, as well as Western political leaders.

 ... 

Did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Foreign Ministry, or even Michal Herzog, wife of President Isaac Herzog, deliberately spread lies, sometimes in diplomatic talks at the highest levels, with the aim of garnering support from international public opinion? October 7 was a real massacre, but it was also the subject of war propaganda.

The lie of forty children and beheadings
 

On Tuesday, October 10, the Israeli army allowed two foreign press journalists to enter Kibbutz Kfar Azza, located less than one kilometer from the Gaza Strip. One of the testimonies stands out: Nicole Zedek, a correspondent for the English-language Hebrew channel i24News, who reported: “One of the commanders here said that at least 40 children were killed,” adding that “some of them were beheaded.” He said he had never seen such atrocities before.

 ...

This statement will be repeated by the media around the world, but also by the Israeli authorities, for several weeks. The next day, the official Twitter account of the State of Israel published a video clip from the i24 channel recalling the Kafr Azza massacre, accompanied by the phrase: “40 children were killed.” The statement then found itself prominently among the videos that flooded Israel's Internet in October denouncing Hamas' crimes.

 ...

In particular, a clip from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted the “forty children” who were killed, in imitation of children’s programs, against a backdrop of unicorns and rainbows.

 ...

This assertion is now contradicted by the numbers. As of December 5, the Israeli police had notified the Israel National Insurance Institute, whose statistics serve as today's reference, of the names of 789 identified civilian casualties (excluding security forces), and published 686 of them, and the Foreign Ministry told us that only ten were civilian casualties. Their identities have not been established, and among the 100 unpublished names, a very large number are known thanks to the systematic collection work carried out by numerous media outlets (including Haaretz) and Israeli associations, in particular on the basis of reports submitted by the families of the victims, and as It is highly unlikely that the existence of other young victims remains unknown two months after the events, as internal sources from the Israeli forensic medical institutes that received the bodies confirmed to us that “the official assessments are correct,” a journalist from the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

 ...

According to medical institutes, only one child was found among the civilians killed on October 7. They are Mila Cohen, 10 months old, who was shot and killed in Be'eri along with her father. But according to our information, there is a second child: Omer Kedem Siman Tov, who died in his burning house in Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his 5-year-old sisters, after their parents were shot. Omer Kedem Siman Tov appears in the institute's file as 4 years old, but

 ...

Several consistent items consulted by our investigation team, and privately available on the social networks of the deceased family, indicate that he was in fact two years and three months old at the time of his murder, and other than these two cases, no other children were killed on October 7 in The kibbutzim, and there was no “headless” child, contrary to what was widely reported. 

Yossi Landau told several international media outlets that he discovered the body of a pregnant woman with a bullet wound to her head, and her abdomen was cut open to remove the fetus that had been stabbed.

 ...

Haaretz newspaper indicates that Yossi Landau confirmed that the pregnant woman was found dead near House 426, which consists of two apartments and is located in a neighborhood where mainly elderly people live. According to the survivors of the building who were interviewed by the Israeli newspaper, there was no pregnant woman.

 ...

However, the Israeli authorities have highlighted this horrific testimony, for example in a message posted by the Israeli Embassy in the United States on Twitter (now X) and Instagram, on October 27. In a recent column published in the American magazine Newsweek, entitled “‘The silence of international authorities in the face of mass rapes committed by Hamas is a betrayal of all women,’” lawyer and First Lady of Israel, Michelle Herzog, also referred to this act and stated: “A Hamas videotape shows One of the kibbutzim terrorists tortured a pregnant woman and extracted her fetus.”

 ...

Our investigative team was able to view a video being circulated that claims to provide evidence of this abuse, and since this has been specifically corrected by the Anti-Defamation League, a leading US NGO in the fight against anti-Semitism, the images were in fact taken. From a video shared in 2018, which allegedly shows abuses committed by a Mexican cartel and is not there.

 ...

These atrocities, initially described by Landau, were reported verbatim on October 31 to the US Senate by Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State: “A little boy and a little girl, ages 6 and 8, and their parents were around the breakfast table, Where the father’s eye was gouged out in front of his children, the mother’s breast was cut off, the girl’s foot was amputated, and the boy’s fingers were cut off before they were executed...and after that their tormentors sat and ate a meal...this is what this society faces.”

 ...

According to our investigations, no child between the ages of 6 and 11 years old died in Be’eri, according to available reports, and the only family that witnessed the death of two children of different genders in Be’eri is the Hatsroni family, whose circumstances of death, previously mentioned, do not match Landau’s account. It is impossible to know whether the elements reported by the head of the relief organization are a distortion of the facts of an event or an invention.

 

The goal is to obtain American and international support to take revenge on Gaza

 This campaign, launched in the ears of political leaders and promoted on social media and among journalists, was intended to mobilize, and then consolidate, Israeli and international public support for the violent reprisals in Gaza, and had the side effect of fueling strong denial. of the October 7 crimes on social media, casting doubt on the true accounts of the attack that killed about 800 civilians.

 

source: https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/israel-7-octobre-un-massacre-et-des-mystifications-20231211_A7QBBETYDRDERFAQINGA66ZAR4/

A fatwa spurred the boycott of Israel's supporters in Indonesia

A fatwa spurred the boycott of Israel's supporters in Indonesia

    Tuesday, December 12, 2023   No comments

Solidarity marches in Indonesia, like other countries of the world, carry many messages that are reflected in the behavior of the solidarity activists, the most prominent of which is the boycott of companies related to Israel, or that have explicitly announced any forms of support or sympathy within Israel.

Over the past two months, the boycott has expanded remarkably in Indonesia, which has the largest Islamic market in the world, and whose population this year is estimated by the Indonesian Statistics Authority to reach 278.8 million people.

The boycott campaigns had not become evident among Indonesians, until the Indonesian Ulema Council last month issued Fatwa No. 83 of 2023, which became the jurisprudential basis for the boycott campaign among the public.

The fatwa - which came in 9 pages - requires that zakat and alms funds be directed to support the struggle of the Palestinian people to gain their independence in the face of Israeli aggression, and prohibits any support for Israel or any party that supports it, even by opinion or influence to buy products that support it, according to the text of the fatwa.

Supporting fatwas were also issued, including those issued by the Issues Research Committee of the Nahdatul Ulama Association in West Java, which saw the boycott as imposing kifaya in solidarity with the people of Gaza, and as weakening the economy of the occupation and those who have a relationship with it.

The Indonesian Ulema Council did not issue any lists of companies to boycott. More than one list of products that were called for to be boycotted was spread by activists and tweeters, and not by any official body or specific institution. The Secretary of the Fatwa Committee of the Indonesian Ulama Council, Miftah al-Huda, said that his council is not authorized to issue such Those lists.

Vice President of the People's Consultative Council, Dr. Hidayat Nur Wahid, supported the fatwa of the Indonesian Ulema Council, and suggested that legislation be passed to boycott Israeli products, in light of their committing crimes against the Palestinian people, to be a legal basis for the boycott, and to confirm Indonesia's position towards Palestine and the occupation.

Nour Waheed called for the establishment of a body concerned with this matter that would collect information and be an information reference for everything related to the boycott, and who should be boycotted based on the relationship with Israel and its aggression, and the activities of those companies inside the country.

Indonesian-based media outlet Republik reported on Saturday that Indonesian advocates are calling for a boycott of Israeli-linked products due to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. 

The call for a boycott was initially launched by human rights groups in both Indonesia and Malaysia and gradually grew to garner support from various political parties, the outlet said.

The list reportedly includes companies such as Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Nestle and IBM. 

"We in the House of Representatives encourage this boycott movement of Israeli products to become the official stance of the Indonesian government to be followed by all businesses and society," a member of the country’s parliament, Amin Ak, told Republika on Wednesday.

Advocates of the boycott are urging individuals to opt for locally-made products over Israeli-linked ones.

"That would be a good moment to strengthen the tightening of the flow of imported goods, especially imports of some products," said a senior official at the Indonesian Industry Ministry, Putu Juli Ardika.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell: The destruction in Gaza is worse than what Germany witnessed during World War II

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell: The destruction in Gaza is worse than what Germany witnessed during World War II

    Tuesday, December 12, 2023   No comments

Borrell: The situation is catastrophic and horrific, and the human suffering in the Strip constitutes an unprecedented challenge to the international community

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday described the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic and horrific,” with relatively “greater” destruction than what Germany witnessed during World War II.

After chairing a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, Borrell said that the Israeli army's response to the attacks launched by Hamas on October 7 led to an "incredible number of civilian casualties."

Borrell did not refer to the fact that Israel's war on Gaza has killed more children than any other conflict, with more than 70% of confirmed deaths being women and children.

Borrell also expressed the European Union's "concern" about the violence of extremist settlers in the West Bank, who are represented in the Israeli government by supremacists who suggested Israel drops a nuclear bomb on Gaza. 

Borrell also condemned the Israeli government's approval of the construction of 1,700 new housing units in Jerusalem, which Brussels considers a violation of international law.

Borrell said, “The destruction caused to buildings in Gaza...is somewhat greater than the destruction inflicted on German cities during World War II.”

He said that he presented to the foreign ministers of European Union countries a discussion paper to consider “imposing sanctions against extremist settlers in the West Bank” whose attacks against Palestinian residents have increased in intensity.

He indicated that he would soon turn the paper into an official proposal, based on an initiative taken by the United States, which announced last week that it would refuse to grant visas to extremist Israeli settlers.

But he acknowledged that there is no consensus yet on the issue among the governments of European Union countries.